Robot 6

Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

Politics | Cartoonist Marjane Satrapi and filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf on Tuesday presented evidence to Green Party members of the European parliament that reportedly documents fraud in the Iranian national election. [ADN Kronos]

Passings | Comics educator and web cartoonist Jeremy Mullins died Saturday after sustaining multiple injuries from a hiking accident. He was 32. Mullins taught in the sequential art department of the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia. [The Associated Press, The Comics Reporter]

Comic-Con

Conventions | A proposed 400,000-square-foot addition to the San Diego Convention Center, location of Comic-Con International, would cost $783.4 million — which breaks down to a minimum of $52.5 million in new taxes and fees annually over the next 30 years. If the facility isn’t expanded, it risks losing Comic-Con. [Union-Tribune, San Diego Business Journal]

Publishing | Digital Manga Publishing’s Michelle Mauk discusses the company’s new “yaoi-on-demand” initiative: “The new program was inspired by the current economy, we had been thinking about it for quite a while, it was inspired by webcomics primarily. We have always been a small independent publisher — and that gives us the ability to be more in touch with our customers and fans, and to be able to do things a little outside of the norm.” [Anime Vice]

Creators | Ed Brubaker discusses the return of Steve Rogers: “I was kind of stunned that when we announced a project called Reborn that was coming out right before the 4th of July written by me and drawn by Bryan Hitch that anybody had any doubt that it was gonna be Captain America. Some retailer actually suggested it might be Thanos: Reborn. And I’m, like, ‘Really? Because I’m known for my work with Thanos?'” [Wizard Universe]

Creators | Novelist and comics writer Joe Hill (IDW’s Locke & Key) talks about his favorite creators and books, and his first attempt to break into the industry: “Do you remember The Marvel Try-Out Book? It had half a Spider-Man story in it, and people who wanted to write for Marvel were invited to complete the script; the best script would see it illustrated and published. When I was 12, I followed the instructions, wrote the rest of the script, and sent it in. A few months later, I got a form rejection letter with a hand-scrawled note from then-editor-in-chief Jim Shooter on the bottom. I couldn’t make out what he had written, but it seemed to be generally encouraging.” [Graphic Novel Reporter]